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Stay warm, Canada. It's still bone-chilling out there for a little while yet.

A cold-weather warning continued for much of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada on Friday morning, with temperatures as low as -42 C in parts of eastern Quebec, to a comparatively balmy -15 C in Windsor, Ont., and some of Nova Scotia.

But wind chills made it feel up to 10 degrees colder.

Even the geography was unaccustomed to the deep freeze, as residents reported hearing what scientists said were likely "frost quakes" — the result of freezing water splitting deep soil or rock.

Police all over Ontario received calls about the banging noises, some worried they were hearing gunshots.

The winter weather led to a crash involving about two dozen vehicles on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto during Friday's morning rush hour.

In Ottawa, police responded to 45 collisions during Friday's morning rush hour alone, including one that closed Highway 416 for a short time.

Toronto commuters even had to make due with 50 fewer streetcars due to problems with the air brakes caused by the extreme cold weather.

An Ottawa home caught fire after the residents tried to thaw frozen pipes late Thursday night. In Quebec, the cold weather led to overflowing homeless shelters, cancelled flights and warnings to stay indoors.

But the weather might actually help the Quebec City Ice Hotel, which is set to open Sunday. In the East, flights were cancelled and drivers were told to stay off the road in Nova Scotia as a blizzard swept through the region.

Transit buses were pulled off the road in Nova Scotia and even Halifax police were told not to drive anywhere unless responding to emergencies.

A storm moving through the northeast part of the U.S. and Atlantic Canada was expected to dump as much as 25 cm of snow in Yarmouth, while the southeast shore of Newfoundland could get 40 cm, Environment Canada said.

In the northeastern United States, the snowstorm and cold conditions delayed hundreds of flights, paralyzed road travel and closing schools and government offices across the region. Boston was hardest-hit, getting nearly 35 cm of snow, while some towns north of New England's largest city saw close to 60 cm of accumulation.

Police in Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois say icy road conditions have caused at least nine deaths, while authorities in New York confirm a woman, 71, with Alzheimer's froze to death after leaving her home and becoming lost.